Self-guided Birding Locations
Visit a historic ranch setting while birding in the Santa Teresa foothills in south San Jose. The Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch offers visitors the ability to go back in time and re-visit life on the Ranch during the late 1800s/ early 1900s. And there is always a wide variety of raptors and songbirds in this easy-to-access portion of the Santa Teresa County Park.
Byxbee Park, in the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Reserve, features a hill with a 360-degree vista, grasslands studded with conceptual art, marshy sloughs, a creek and tree-lined paths, throughout which you can find wintering waterfowl, migrating passerines, soaring raptors and a variety of gulls.
Alta Mesa Memorial Park, the only cemetery in Palo Alto, was founded in 1904. Its 72 acres feature open grassy areas, but also mature oak trees, hedgerow with privet and redwoods, a border formed by Adobe Creek, and some contemplation gardens with many California native plants.
For a location full of visual and aural extremes, visit Merced NWR where you can see and hear Sandhill Cranes rattling loudly and dancing together or enormous swirling clouds of thousands of Snow and Ross’s Geese. There are decidedly few experiences more life-affirming than a winter trip to this Central Valley location!
Sierra Vista OSP is in the eastern foothills of Santa Clara County. It is a good location to visit year-round, but especially in the winter when grassland loving sparrows and Ferruginous Hawk may be present. There are few crowds in the early morning and weekdays and the views are fantastic.
Wilson’s Snipe really do exist and Los Capitancillos Ponds in San José is my favorite place to hunt for them. Besides finding the elusive snipe, visit these ponds in the winter for ducks, geese, and gulls. The wide gravel travel is uncrowded making it easy to social distance.
No matter the season, Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve (CVOSP) in Morgan Hill is a great place to discover local favorites or special migrants. In fall and winter, this preserve is a perfect spot to watch for resident and migrating raptors, wintering sparrows, and agricultural-field specialties.
